The Ministry of Defence has confirmed a device which can be used as a "sonic weapon" will be deployed in London during the Olympics.

The American-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) can be used to send verbal warnings over a long distance or emit a beam of pain-inducing tones.

The equipment was spotted fixed to a landing craft on the Thames at Westminster this week.

An MoD spokesman said it would be used "primarily in the loud hailer mode".

Royal Marines operating in patrol craft from HMS Ocean are also heavily armed with conventional firearms.

The piercing beam of sound emitted by the device is highly directional. Some versions of the LRAD are capable of producing deafening sound levels of 150 decibels at one metre.

But the device, which was used this week during Exercise Olympic Guardian, can also be used to broadcast verbal warnings, such as ordering crowds to disperse.

The San Diego-based LRAD Corporation has previously sold the device to the US Army, which deployed them in Iraq for crowd control.

They have also been bought by the US Navy and Air Force as well as a number of police forces worldwide.

It has been successfully used aboard ships to repel Somali pirates.

The panel-shaped LRAD is mounted onto steerable gimbals and said to be far more efficient than a normal loudspeaker.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "As part of the military contribution to the police led security effort to ensure a safe and secure games, a broad range of assets and equipment is being used by our armed forces".

"This includes the LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) which will be deployed during the Olympic Games primarily to be used in the loud hailer mode as part of the measures to achieve a maritime stop on the Thames."

Hey bro, having music above 85 dB causes permanent hearing damage over longer periods of exposure. To put this in perspective, standing close to a busy roadway is about 80-90 dB, a jackhammer is 100 dB at 1 meter away. I can't remember exactly, but I think sound intensity is inversely proportional to distance, so 2 meters from a jackhammer should have half intensity, so 2m would be 90 dB(please correct me if I'm wrong). Your ears are fragile, they get damaged easy.

The Union Jack would look a shit ton better with a Hammer and Sickle in the middle of it

November 2007
7,384 Posts

i dont know about anyone else but this seems REALLY 1984 like. not trying to make some metaphor here, but it just seems so orwellian to have a device pointed at your own citizens that, "can be used to send verbal warnings over a long distance or emit a beam of pain-inducing tones." holy shit

That's if you stand in the direct path of the beam without moving. Same could be said about other riot control devices. Tear gas? I'm sure that causes permanent damage if you don't move. The idea is to make people move. If you don't move you're only hurting yourself.

Edited:

It shoots a beam of sound. The sound is significantly louder in the beam then immediately outside the beam.

That's if you stand in the direct path of the beam without moving. Same could be said about other riot control devices. Tear gas? I'm sure that causes permanent damage if you don't move. The idea is to make people move. If you don't move you're only hurting yourself.

Edited:

It shoots a beam of sound. The sound is significantly louder in the beam then immediately outside the beam.

Any exposure to sound that exceeds the threshold of pain will cause some permanent hearing damage no matter how long you are exposed. Permanent hearing damage comes around 120 dB. The threshold of pain is double that at 130 dB. The hairs in your ear aren't meant to be pushed that hard, and they crack and bend at high amplitudes.

Flashbang grenades also damage hearing. They put out sound well over 160 dB, that's one of the reasons they are so effective. Should we stop using them?

Flashbangs are an incapacitate. They are made to pacify people by disorienting them. Using flashbangs in a large-group situation would be completely useless. You want them to disperse and break up, not go completely blind and deaf for several seconds.

You want an effective crowd-control device? Water cannons. You don't move, you get knocked on to your ass. You are left with drenched clothing so you become cold and miserable. They can also put out fires.

Imagine if every major city in the world gets hit by terrorist attacks and goes down into chaos and London is the only city "alive" in the world because it had all this defense only to stop a purse snatcher...

Flashbangs are an incapacitate. They are made to pacify people by disorienting them. Using flashbangs in a large-group situation would be completely useless. You want them to disperse and break up, not go completely blind and deaf for several seconds.

How is this different? Why does a crowd control weapon have a different standard of humanity than a weapon designed to incapacitate?

You want an effective crowd-control device? Water cannons. You don't move, you get knocked on to your ass. You are left with drenched clothing so you become cold and miserable. They can also put out fires.

No really humane since any force able to knock somebody down could cause serious skin damage(water is really "sharp" with enough force). Not to mention that knocking someone on their ass can injure them, especially if they get knocked into something or someone. Also, the weapon couldn't be used if the temperature goes below freezing, since now all those people are at risk of getting hypothermia.

How is this different? Why does a crowd control weapon have a different standard of humanity than a weapon designed to incapacitate? No really humane since any force able to knock somebody down could cause serious skin damage(water is really "sharp" with enough force). Not to mention that knocking someone on their ass can injure them, especially if they get knocked into something or someone. Also, the weapon couldn't be used if the temperature goes below freezing, since now all those people are at risk of getting hypothermia.

If people are rioting and threatening civilians/bystanders/riot control cops then by all means knock them on their ass with some sharp water. Just dont be excessive. And the LRAD could surely be made to oscilate in operation to greatly migitate the chance of permanent hearing damage.

No really humane since any force able to knock somebody down could cause serious skin damage(water is really "sharp" with enough force). Not to mention that knocking someone on their ass can injure them, especially if they get knocked into something or someone. Also, the weapon couldn't be used if the temperature goes below freezing, since now all those people are at risk of getting hypothermia.

Water cannons are typically regarded as much being much safer than things such as tear gas, flashbangs, etc. I cannot find any amount of information saying they are more dangerous than the aforementioned methods. They have controllable water flow, so you can adjust it accordingly.